Adriana Perez is an emerging writer, making her debut to the Chicago literary scene through Raging Opossum Press, with her short story Palm Springs. Someone once gave her a Lisa Frank journal for her 5th birthday, and that eventually turned into mountains of composition notebooks filled with airport thoughts, pillow talk, and every slice of life in between. You can find her on Instagram at @minestrone_cowboy

Connor McKenzie (He/Him)is a writer, musician & currently fronting the Chicago based noise-rock group Low Animal. He is also known for performing in other acts such as Black Nail and Tweak over the last decade. Originally from Champaign, IL he has moved frequently and spent years all around Illinois, Minnesota & Rhode Island. Connor is drawn to wild, uneasy & exhilarating performances, aiming to captivate and connect by any means necessary. You can find him on Instagram at @cmmkenz and his band, Low Animal, at lowanimalband.

Lily Valentine (She/Her)is a poet and middle school English teacher who lives in Logan Square, Chicago. She has previously been published in After Hours and Arcturus. She originally grew up in Boulder, Colorado before moving to the midwest to attend Kenyon College, where she majored in English with a creative writing emphasis and art history. Her favorite themes to explore in her work are cleanliness, boredom, and the passage of time. You can find her on Instagram at @octoberlilies

Caitlin Arquines (She/Her), AKA Cait Arq, is a singer-songwriter and music curator based in Chicago. She’s been writing both songs and poetry since grade school. In middle and high school, she performed at various spoken word events and competed in slam poetry contests around Chicago (i.e. louder than a bomb, slammin’ the sun down). Since then, many of her written poems serve as “seeds” for her songwriting. While both her past and newest original music has been available for listening, these will be her first pieces of poetry to be published. You can find her on Instagram at caitarq.

Taylor Thornburg is an author and essayist based in Chicago, Illinois. His fiction explores strange yet humane ways of being. His other fiction can be found in the Garfield Lake Review, Thirteenth Floor Magazine, L'Esprit Literary Review, Valley Voices, Heartwood Literary Review, and elsewhere.

Zach Riley (He/Him) is a visual artist and actor based in Chicago with a focus on acrylic and oil painting. Zach's style is a blend of surrealism and expressionism with several pieces standing as direct accounts of his own dreams. Zach credits a lot of his visual "lens" to mythology, retro campy horror/ sci-fi fantasy movies, comics and video games that he navigates pathos through. He explains, "There is this magic world that is invisible to the naked eye. Particles, frequencies, and energy that surround/ and are emitted by people and places. In my work I hope to marry what is seen with the sensation of what is felt in my heart and in my nerves. To express the essence and aura of something, which inherently feels mystical." He adds, "I also like it when you can take this special, ethereal or horrifying sensation and infuse it with this absurd campiness, where it shouldn't make any sense yet somehow it makes THE most sense, and theres a delightful element of humor and intrigue to explore in that space" You can find him Instagram at zachofalltrades333 or visit his redbubble shop under www.redbubble.com/people/zachofalltradez

Noah Thomas (he/him) is an acrylic painter based in Chicago, IL. Noah has been painting since 2011 and started doing art shows in high school in 2013. He has been influenced by surrealism and expressionism within landscapes for his pieces. His pieces immerse the viewer in new landscapes normally unseen by our human eye while exploring the solitude felt in isolation. You can find him on Instagram @acting_sorn

Born and raised in rural Illinois, Lexi Leach (she/they) developed a deep appreciation for nature from a young age. Growing up alongside horses, she and her sister spent countless hours riding and training under the guidance of their mother, forging a strong bond rooted in their shared love for animals, the outdoors, and dedication. Seeking new horizons and opportunities, Lexi moved to Chicago in pursuit of a place she could truly call home. With a passion for understanding the natural world, she embarked on a journey through academia, currently serving as STEM Department Head at a secondary school while pursuing her graduate studies in biology and GIS. Her focus lies in ecology, particularly investigating how human interactions impact aquatic ecosystems—an area where her dedication to conservation and sustainability shines through. Inherited from a paternal lineage of poets, Lexi finds peace and expression in writing poems. Through her verses, she carefully weaves narratives that capture the essence of her experiences, blending the scientific curiosity of the natural world with a lyrical touch. Lexi continues to embrace her everyday life through poetry—a life where the rhythm of hoofbeats that once pounded in her being are now replaced by the bustling sounds of urban life intertwined with faint typing of her keyboard.

Taylor Thornburg (he/him) is an author and essayist based in Chicago, Illinois. His fiction explores strange yet humane ways of being. His other fiction can be found in the Garfield Lake Review, Thirteenth Floor Magazine, L'Esprit Literary Review, Valley Voices, Heartwood Literary Review, and elsewhere. You can find him on Instagram @midwesttaylor

Emma Younger (they/them) is a poet originally from Portland, OR, now living in Chicago, IL. Past work includes chapbook Stone Fruit Girls. Online in Hooligan Magazine, Stone of Madness, Rookie Magazine & beyond. You can find them on instagram @emmarain27.

Cassidy Kulhanek (she/they) is a visual artist, writer, and comedian living and working in Chicago, IL. She holds an MFA in Studio Art from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a BFA in Studio Art from Auburn University, both with a concentration in Printmaking. She was named the third best comedian in Chicago in 2023 by the Chicago Reader. Her prose has previously been published in the Blue River Review and she has zines in the permanent collections of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Michigan State University. You can find her on Instagram @heavenlygrandpa

Liam Lynch (they/them) is a writer of surrealist poetry based in Chicago. Their poetry utilizes teachings of eastern philosophy and spirituality to explore emotion, confusion, and care. Liam is currently pursuing a graduate degree in Buddhism-Informed Counseling at Naropa University.